“Forget about punk. Forget about the new Mods marching to the beat of ‘My Generation.’ In the England of 1980, ska is the word.” That’s how Rolling Stone critic David Fricke began his March 23, 1980, article on ska, the latest music craze to sweep the U.K. A decade later, the record label most responsible for the ska revolution, 2-Tone Records, has commemorated the tenth anniversary of the ska phenomenon with The 2 Tone Story, a double album that highlights the best of the ska movement and leaves you wondering why the hypnotic music never became the word in America.
The main irony of the Specials’ songs, and in fact of the entire ska movement, was that lurking just beneath the “happy,” infectious dance beat were often chilling stories of the racial divisiveness and economic deprivation that characterized the dawning of the Thatcher era. This is evident on their debut single, “Gangsters,” released in July 1979. The steady backbeat of drummer John Bradbury and the bass of Horace Panter combine with Dammers’s lilting keyboards to turn rock’s traditional 4/4 beat inside out, providing an insistent dance groove. Meanwhile Terry Hall’s anguished tenor sings a tale of tongue-in-cheek urban chaos that takes a swipe at the British record industry:
Best of Chicago voting is live now. Vote for your favorites »
Can’t fight corruption with conscience
A Catch 22 says if I sing the truth
when we’re living in a real gangster town.
All the clubs are being closed down
